Forbidden

59. Belgian GP

Max loved waking up next to Olivia, the smell of Gardenias in the air he breathed as he held her from behind and he felt her chest go up and down slowly while she slept. It made him feel so at peace. Although he hadn't felt like that a few days ago. When Carlos had showed the video of Liv and Pato to Max, unsure if it was her but finding it very funny. To Max it wasn't funny at all, he immediately recognized Liv. 

He had told Olivia he wanted to run hist fist through a wall but that wasn't completely accurate, it was more like he wanted to run Pato's face through a wall. But he thought that was an unnecessary description for her, so he kept that to himself. 

Even though his stomach still turned if he thought about it, he barely thought about it anymore. Not since Olivia was with him, since they were a couple. A private couple, yes, maybe; but a couple nevertheless. That's what mattered to him. 

By the morning, the news of Olivia being the girl Max was hugging and his split with Ashley were all over the place. They couldn't confirm Olivia was his girlfriend, but now they could confirm Ashley wasn't. That was enough for Olivia and it was enough for him. He just worried about Ashley still, she was being a complete wildcard in the worst possible way. Was she just pretending to be nice so Max wouldn't suspect anything of her? Or was she actually a decent human being like he used to think when he first met her?

He tried not to worry about it too much, and with Olivia that was actually easy. After they woke up they were getting dressed before going down for breakfast. "You know my mom is actually coming to the race" said Max. Olivia turned immediately to Max.

"Really? I didn't know that" she said a little in shock. She didn't get along with Jos at all, she hoped she could get along a little better with Max's mother. 

Max read her mind "Relax, she's nothing like my dad" he said holding her shoulders in a comforting manner. Olivia let out a deep breath, feeling relieved. Maybe Olivia wouldn't be hated by both of Max's parents. She hoped so.

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Back at the garage, Checo, Max and Olivia were talking about their plans for the night if they won the race when a woman approached them. She was brunette, mid forties, and Olivia didn't need anybody to tell her: she was Max's mother. They had the same nose and there was something about their eyes that was slightly similar.. maybe it was the eyebrows, she didn't know.

"Hey mom!" said Max brightly as he hugged his mother. 

After greeting each other Max turned to Olivia and Checo "You know Checo of course, and this is Olivia, his sister, but you can call her Liv".

"Hi nice to meet you" said Liv with a smile as she offered her hand, which she shook.

"Pleasure to meet you dear, my name is Sophie" she said with a kind smile.

They all chatted together for a bit, Max's mother seemed nice enough. She clearly loved her son and worried about him during every race, Olivia liked that. It was so unlike Jos Verstappen. 

Once the cars were off to the grid Liv sat next to Max's mother to see the race. Max's mother took one good look at her "Wait a minute, you are the girl from the video with Jos".

Liv looked embarrassed  "Yeah.." she said "I didn't get along very well with Max's father".

"That's alright, me neither" she brushed it off and they both laughed. 

The race started and Olivia could tell Sophie was nervous the entire time. Liv didn't get nervous like that, maybe because Checo had been racing since she can remember. She was used to seeing him out there, it was as normal as seeing him play football. Meanwhile Sophie had to get used to her baby boy racing karts when she was a full grown adult.